2.4 GHz Issues (Could be Hardware?)

[thered]

Hi everyone,

I have an RT-AC-87U (woof, I know, running Merlin's last supported build for this model - 384.13_10)

A year or so ago, I had an issue with the 2.4 GHz radio where it just would not start. There was no 2.4 GHz network broadcasting no matter what I tried (reboots, toggling it on/off, changing "professional" tab settings... Not sure what I did to fix it - multiple reboots, maybe a factory reset, but I got it working again and it's been pretty solid since... Fast forward to today...

The network is "up" and broadcasting, but multiple smart home devices which are 2.4 GHz only, (both my main 2.4 and guest 2.4 networks when I don't trust IoT devices), started dropping off. My Sense monitor, my garage door opener, my Wyze cam, my Google Nest Hub (which also supports 5GHz but it's far away so I selected 2.4 for range) are some examples. I connected my phone to the 2.4 GHz network while these devices were struggling to connect, and it worked fine. A few router eboots temporarily solved the issue, but various devices kept failing to connect and others were connecting just fine. Sometimes rebooting the router fixed them, sometimes rebooting the devices fixed the connectivity. I didn't see anything strange in the system log or WiFi log in the firmware...

I'm trying to determine if this is just the hardware acting up, or if it could be a rogue device / new interference in my area that started recently (I didn't add anything new). I'm in the suburbs, so there are homes around me, but it's not a crowded apartment building. At the moment, things are stable, but I wanted to see what the consensus was here..

My question is - should I just splurge on the RT-AX88U? I was holding off because of the high price, and waiting for WiFi 6E, but have decided against 6E on the grounds that the adaptation is slow for WiFi 6 at the moment (I still don't have any AX devices, and I could only imagine it'd be years before 6E is mainstream)... I need both 2.4 and 5 GHz to be reliable. I'm also not a fan that I haven't been getting the latest. Extremely disappointed in this model, as it has weirdo hardware and received limited support from ASUS. Seems the RT-AX88U has the most support for the long run, but has mediocre reviews.

I just want to run what Merlin uses as a daily driver, because I fully trust him. But based on the high cost and average reviews saying how buggy the 88U is, I'm on the fence. Any advice is appreciated, thanks!

 

[L&LD]

Splurge, but save significant cash and get a better router with the RT-AX86U instead.

Buying a current router isn't (only) about getting current new capabilities. It is more of the advances that can be found in the older Wi-Fi standards that can be directly appreciated such as better range, higher throughput and lower latency. Yes, even with older client devices.

 

[GSpock]

I use to have the RT-AC87U running for many years without problems, then moved to RT-AX86U to keep up-to-date. Very happy with this choice ...

 

[mobileineurope]

If you have a usb drive connected, make sure to select usb 2.0 compatibility mode. I had the same router - and that exact problem. Usb 3.0 makes interference with the 2.4 ghz radio on an Ac87U.
I actually upgraded to AX88U. Never looked back - super stable with Merlin. Ax devices begin to creep into my household

 

[thered]

Splurge, but save significant cash and get a better router with the RT-AX86U instead.

Out of curiosity, why do you recommend the RT-AX86U over the RT-AX88U? Better bang for the buck? Looks like they have the same CPU and RAM, only difference I see is that the 2.4GHZ is 3x3 on the AX86U and 4x4 on the AX88U (extra antenna? Does it matter?). I don't have any WiFi 6 clients yet, so future-proofing would be nice, but my main concern is something Merlin would support for a while, fast CPU/RAM (for openvpn / USB samba), and something that will cover about 3000 sq ft without AI Mesh. Merlin himself told me that the 88U is their flagship, and to avoid the AX56U (on the grounds it hardly gets any love or updates from Asus, but this was about 6 months ago.

If you have a usb drive connected, make sure to select usb 2.0 compatibility mode. I had the same router - and that exact problem. Usb 3.0 makes interference with the 2.4 ghz radio on an Ac87U.
I actually upgraded to AX88U. Never looked back - super stable with Merlin. Ax devices begin to creep into my household

Thanks, I will try this. I do have one connected

=======

Although it's weird. Things seem to have stabilized when I removed the SD card from my Wyze Cam... Maybe there was a bug with something there that was messing up my network. I connected to the 2.4 ghz network from my laptop, about 10 feet from the router and did a continuous ping to google, and it was dropping packets / varying from 100-3500ms (mostly 1-2 seconds), vs 38ms ping on 5ghz.

 

[L&LD]

Why? Because the RT-AX86U is a better router.

 

[sbsnb]

Why? Because the RT-AX86U is a better router.

Interesting. Is it a software difference with the AX88U that makes it a better router? How about a better AP? I may be upgrading soon, but since I have an AC88U it seemed logical to go with a AX88U.

 

[L&LD]

With the benefit of using both routers, the RT-AX86U is obviously superior. Even when I tried every combination of RT-AX88U and RT-AX86U, when the RT-AX88U was in the mix, the network was 'less'. Same range, greater throughput, and obviously less latency.

I don't know (or care, frankly) why the RT-AX86U is better (in purely technical terms), but it is.